1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments relate to an artificial stone containing three-dimensional transparent stone elements and, more particularly, to an artificial stone having a sparkling pattern which resembles a stone beset with gems, and a method of preparing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an artificial stone may be prepared using various types of base materials. During the preparation of the artificial stone, various artificial stone elements, e.g., chips, may be added to the base material, in order to express various patterns in the resulting artificial stone. The appearance of artificial stone may greatly affect the value of the product, and thus the nature of the artificial stone elements employed therein may be an important aspect of the artificial stone.
Transparent or opaque artificial stone elements may be used in the preparation of artificial stone so as to provide the artificial stone with various patterns. However, where transparent artificial stone elements are used, the artificial stone may fail to express the three dimensionality of the transparent artificial stone elements because the shapes of buried parts of the transparent artificial stone elements are not distinct.